The CliftonStrengths Coaching Blog is a resource for those who want to help others truly understand their strengths and learn how to use them. Gallup experts and outside contributors share tactics, insights, and strategies to help strengths coaches maximize the talent of individuals, teams, and organizations everywhere.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

On a recent episode of Called to Coach, we hosted Stosh Walsh, Learning and Organizational Development Senior Consultant at Alliant Credit Union.

Stosh began his strengths journey about 15 years ago when his mentor gave him a copy of Now, Discover Your Strengths. After reading the book and discovering his top five strengths, Stosh knew that he wanted to help others do the same. Shortly thereafter, he was working at Gallup, helping people discover and develop their own natural talents. Stosh now works at Alliant Credit Union helping employees harness their strengths to improve engagement and increase membership.

Monday, February 23, 2015

On a recent Called to Coach: India Edition, we spoke with Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach Balaji Kumar.

Balaji considers himself an extreme introvert, which he has confirmed via personality assessments. Although he was already aware of this personality trait, he knew his job would require him to break out of his shell and interact with people.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Coaching sessions are a unique type of conversation. Coaching conversations have a specific function, form and design. These conversations look, sound and feel different than the conversations that take place in a business meeting, over dinner with friends, during an argument with a spouse or in a classroom. The specific conversational “moves” that coaches make while working with a client are different than the moves that one makes while discussing current events around the water cooler with a colleague.

The difference between high-impact coaching and a “nice chat about strengths” is in the design that the coach uses to structure the conversation. “Conversational design” describes how a coach intentionally structures and adapts the direction of the coaching conversation to help the client reach their desired results. Just like how buildings are designed and built for certain purposes, coaching conversations deliver exactly what they are designed to deliver.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Note: This story depicts how one organization is changing the way it operates to incorporate Gallup’s Entrepreneurial Profile 10 assessment, formerly known as Entrepreneurial StrengthsFinder. You can learn more about EP10 here.

Straight Shot's David Arnold addresses a group
at the accelerator's office in Omaha's Wareham Building

David Arnold left New York City looking for answers.

The managing director for Straight Shot, a startup accelerator headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, had just spent a few days with leaders of similar organizations. They were asking the same questions Arnold was: How do we get more good prospective companies to apply to our organization? How can we stand out among our growing field of competitors?

Arnold’s trip came shortly after Straight Shot’s second Demo Day, during which seven companies graduated from the 90-day accelerator and publicly waded into the next stage of their future. He returned to Straight Shot from New York knowing that his organization had to find new and effective ways to differentiate the experience they offer entrepreneurs from those promised by other accelerators, incubators and groups in similar sectors.

Friday, February 6, 2015

On a recent episode of Called to Coach, we hosted Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach Alexsys Thompson.

Alexsys began her career as an executive headhunter -- that is, she helped organizations find executive talent. To get organizational leadership to better understand team dynamics during executive transitions, she turned to the Clifton StrengthsFinder to lay the foundation for her training.